Conveyer carrier



Oct. 12, 1937. M. A. KENDALL CONVEYER CARRIER Filed Jan. 51, 1936 Patented Oct. 12, 1937 PATENT OFFICE CONVEYER CARRIER Myron A. Kendall, Aurora, Ill., assignor to Stephens-Adamson Mfg. 00., a corporation of II- V 'linois Application January 31, 1936, Serial No. 61,686

9 Claims.

This invention relates to conveyors and more particularly to conveyers of the flexible belt type.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a new and improved conveyer belt support or carrier.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved conveyer belt support or carrier having novel means for adding rigidity to the structure,

A further object of the invention is to employ a truss type of belt supporting structure that is light and rigid, inexpensive to manufacture, efficient in use, easily installed and'that is composed of few parts.

Other and iurtherobjects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying. drawing in which: g

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a belt supporting structure of an endless belt conveyer with parts-in section and parts broken away;

. Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1 and r Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 3 but showing the modified form of strut. I

It is common practice to construct belt conveyersupporting structures with a lower rigid cross member of wood or metal arranged horizontally between two uprights and on which the brackets for supporting the conveyer are mounted.

In this type of construction the rollers which carry the belt are supported independently from the crossmernbers'or are supported byaxles rotatably or loosely mounted in the roller supporting brackets. In either case, the entire weight of the load is supported entirely by the horizontally arranged supporting bars which carry the roller brackets. Since the entire load is thus supported, these horizontally arranged bars must necessarily be strong and very rigid, and as a resultthey are heavy and expensive.

The present invention seeks to remedy these difficulties by building the roller supports in the form of a light truss with the rollers mounted on the upper chord or compression member of the truss.

This trussed structure constitutes a carrier or carrier unit and may be secured to an appropriate supporting structure in any suitable manner. For the purpose ofdisclosing one form of the device, the unit is shown; as being rigidly mounted on a supporting structure bymeans of standards or end members. Referring now to the draw-' pression member of the truss ll.

ing, the reference character 9 designates the base or sub-structure on which the supporting unit or carrier I0 is mounted. This sub-structure is of the usual or any well-known construction. The carrier or unit is in the form of a truss II and 5 comprises a pair of end members, standards or supports I 2 and I3, respectively, each connected to and supported on the sub-structure 9 in any appropriate manner. As shown, bolts extending through feet on the standards are employed for 10 this purpose. The standards I2 and I3 preferably, though not necessarily, have their upper ends I4 and I5 respectively, inclined inwardly and provided with inclined openings I6, which are adapted to receive the outer ends of shafts l1 l5 and 18 on which are rotatably mounted rollers I9 and 2i, respectively. The rollers l9 and 2| are inclined outwardly and upwardly and are adapted to engage the conveyer belt at its edges to retain the load thereon in the usual manner. 20 For convenience of description, the compression member may be said to be troughed.

The inner ends of the shafts l1 and I8 are connected to strut members 22 and 23 in any suitable manner. As shown, the strut members 25 22 and 23 are each provided with an angular opening 24 into which the inner ends of the shafts l1 and I8 extend and are secured therein by suitable means as by the pins 25..

One or more horizontally arranged rollers 26 30 which this roller is rotatably mounted, has its ends rigidly connected to the strut members 22 and 23 as with the pins 28 or by any other suit- 40 able means. In order to reduce friction, the rollers may be provided at their ends with roller bearings 31 of any suitable construction mounted in any convenient manner as by being mounted in depressions 29 in the ends of the rollers. 45

The shafts l1, l8 and 21 constitute the com- Each of the struts 22 and 23 is provided with an opening 33 at its lower end which, for convenience of assembly, may be in the form of an open ended slot. 5Q Atension member 34 extends between the standards I2 and I3 and engages the struts as by extending through the openings 33 in the lower ends ofthe struts 22 and 23. The tension member 34 is preferably though not necessarily in 55 the form of a rod which is adjustably connected to the standards as by being threaded at each end and having nuts 35 and 36 thereon. The outer ends of the rod extend outwardly and upwardly as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the rod constitutes the tension member of the truss II. If desired, spacer members in the form of sleeves 31 may be inserted between the struts and between the standards and the adjacent struts.

It will'thus be seen that when the parts are assembled and mounted on the sub-structure or base 9, that the belt supporting construction will function as a truss for rigidly supportin'g'the carrier or conveyer belt.

In conveyers that are designed to transport heavy loads, a plurality oftension members 38 and 39 may be employed as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing. In this construction the'struts 4| will be increased in width at their lower ends and provided with slots for receiving these tension members. While in the construction shown, three rollers are employed, it is understood that in the use of Wider or narrower conveyer belts, the number of rollers may be increased or decreased as desired or as occasion may require; but, in all cases, the shafts on which the rollers are mounted will be connected together so as to form the compression member of the truss II and the rod or rods connecting the standards and engaging the struts will form the tension member of said truss.

It will thus be seen that the supporting structure beneath the conveyer belt is in the form of a comparatively light truss-like construction with the rollers mounted on the compression member of the truss and that by means of the nuts 35 and 36, the rod'or tension member 3 1 may be given the desired tension to properly rigidify the truss structure against downward bending while supporting the load on the belt conveyer. 7

While in the form of construction shown the compression and tension members are attached to standards or supports at the ends of the unit, it is understood that this showing is by Way of example only and that the essence of the invention is the provision of a carrier in the form of a truss whereby a maximum of carrying capacity with a minimum of weight is accomplished,

7 It is thought iromthe foregoing. taken in connection with the accompanying drawing that the construction and operation of my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art and that changes in size, shape, proportion and details of construction may be made without departing said supports, an intermediate portion of said compression member being depressed, rollers supported on said compression member for supporting a conveyer belt, a tension member below said compression member and connected to said supportsand strut means between said members whereby a truss is formed for supporting said belt during its travel over said unit.

3. In a belt conveyer, a pair of end members, a rigid compression member attached at its ends to said members, load supporting roller means rotatably mounted on said compression member, a light tension element having its central portion depressed and its ends connected to said end members, and strut means between the central portions of said compression member and tension element for holding the same in spaced relation.

ing said struts and having their end portions extending outwardly and upwardly and engaging said supporting members, and means for tensioning said rod members.

5. A belt conveyer unit comprising a compression member, conveyer belt roller supporting means associated with said member, a light tension member beneath said compression member and having its central portion depressed, means for connecting the ends of said members, and strut means between intermediate portions of said compression and tension members whereby a load on said rollers will cause said unit to function as a truss for supporting the load on said roller supporting means.

6. In a belt conveyer, a pair of end members, a rigid compression member rigidly connected at its ends to said end members, conveyer belt supporting means rotatably mounted on said compression member, tension rod means extending beneath said compression member bowed downwardly, and having the ends thereof connected to said end members, struts between intermediate portions of said compression member and rod means, and means for varying the tension of said rod means whereby the distance of the ends of said end members adjacent to the tension rod means may be varied.

7. In a belt conveyer, a pair of supporting members spaced apart, a truss structure between said members, said structure comprising upper and lower cord members, rollers mounted on the upper cord member of said truss structure, and. means 'for varying the tension of said lower cord.

8. In a conveyer, a pair of end members, spaced apart, a truss structure comprising a compression member, a rod having its end connected to said end members, struts between said rod and member rigidly connected to said member and having slots for receiving said rod, rollers on said compression member, and sleeves on said rod between said struts.

9. In a belt conveyer, a pair of supports spacedried by said compression member for supportinga belt conveyer. 1

' MYRON A. KENDALL; 

